Bangladesh Organic Products Manufacturers Association

Organic :
Commonly, Organic products are grown under a system of agriculture without the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides with an environmentally and socially responsible approach. This is a method of farming that works at grass root level preserving the reproductive and regenerative capacity of the soil, good plant nutrition, and sound soil management, produces nutritious food rich in vitality which has resistance to diseases. Bangladesh is bestowed with lot of potential to produce all varieties of organic products due to its various agro climatic regions. In several parts of the country, the inherited tradition of organic farming is an added advantage. This holds promise for the organic producers to tap the market which is growing steadily in the domestic market related to the export market.

Organic Agriculture
Organic Agriculture has a significant role to play in addressing two of the world’s biggest and most urgent is­sues: climate change and food security. Climate change mitigation and adaptation and food security are inseparable and inherent beneficial characteristics of Organic Agriculture.

Organic Agriculture has well established practices that simultaneously mitigate climate change, build resilient farming systems, reduce poverty and improve food security. Organic Agriculture emits much lower levels of greenhouse gases (GHG), and quickly, affordably and effectively sequesters carbon in the soil. In addition, Or­ganic Agriculture makes farms and people more resilient to climate change, mainly due to its water efficiency, resilience to extreme weather events and lower risk of complete crop failure. 

There is more and more evidence that chemical based fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides are extremely harmful to our health and environment. Conventional agriculture relies heavily on chemical fertilizers and toxic pesticides, which are harmful to human health, and which enter the food supply, penetrate water sources, harm the livestock, deplete the soil, devastate natural eco-systems, and contaminate the foods grown for the general public. In addition to which, there are over 7000 artificial and/or chemical preservatives and additives permitted in non-organic food including colorings, stabilizers, fillers, residual antibiotics, hydrogenated fats, etc. none of which are permitted in organic foods.
Not only do whole communities become subject to the dangers of toxic agricultural chemicals, they seep into the food on which they are applied; and the foods grown for the general pubic become contaminated as well. In many places trees have stopped bearing fruit because the heavy use of pesticides has killed the pollinators – the bees, flies and butterflies.
In Bangladesh as elsewhere, chemical fertilizers and pesticides have been aggressively promoted and heavily subsidized to keep the fertilizer companies afloat, without realizing the resulting devastation these chemical applications have wrought on the sustainability of agriculture.
The most recent introduction of GM seeds and crops (genetically modified, also called GE, genetically engineered), which need to be purchased every year at a high cost, and need to be heavily sprayed with the killer pesticides that the same companies produce, evokes a strong response from health and environment conscious people all over the world.
Many of Bangladesh's farmers have lost much of their ancestral farming knowledge and ancient seed varieties since the introduction of chemical based commercial agriculture and hybrid seeds. In many areas of Bangladesh and all over the world, valuable medicinal plants are becoming endangered because of indiscriminate commercial over-harvesting and other adverse collection practices that damage essential natural habitats. Proper organic agricultural practices require training and supervision for sustainable procurement methods that preserve rare and endangered wild plant species and the earth's natural bio-diversity.
Organic agriculture requires the elimination of commercial fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides and other dangerous chemicals. This in turn affects the whole community and creates a significantly healthier working and living environment for the farmers, their families and livestock, as well as the local wildlife.